Chicken Real Estate: Unique Chicken Coops for City Chickens

As promised in our on-going series of urban agriculture articles, we continue today with a discussion of your urban chicken?s real estate. We?ll cover chicken nesting boxes, building a chicken coop, and a wide variety of unique chicken coops to consider. Oh, and a little chicken sex education regarding how often chickens lay eggs.

A Little Sex Ed: How Often do Chickens Lay Eggs?

Picture by isthmushandyman.com

Before we get started, I want to address two common questions that I get all the time about raising chickens for eggs.

1. Do you need a rooster to get eggs?

2. How often do chickens lay eggs?

The answer to the first question is NO. Think back to your junior high school sex education class and basic biology, and it will quickly make sense that hens can produce an egg regardless of the presence or absence of a rooster. A rooster is only important for fertilization ? that is if you want to produce more chickens ? not for egg laying.

Regarding the second question, chickens ovulate approximately every 25 hours, which means that most chickens will lay one egg a day. However, how often a chicken lays an egg is also dependent on daylight hours. Chickens don?t lay eggs at night, and, in the winter when daylight hours are shorter, chickens will not lay eggs as often, and will skip a day here and there.

Chickens also do not lay eggs when they are molting, which happens once a year when they lose some of their old feathers and grow new ones. When all is said and done, the typical chicken will lay approximately 180 to 220 eggs per year.

Chicken Nesting Boxes

So, what are chicken nesting boxes and why are they important? Well, just as women like to be left alone with our chocolate every 28 days or so, hens need a nice, quiet, private space, also known as a chicken nesting box, in which to lay her egg every day. Every chicken coop needs enough nesting boxes to accommodate the daily egg-laying of your chickens. You should build one nesting box for every two to four hens.

Chicken nesting boxes should be built approximately 2 feet up off of the ground, and, for standard breeds, the chicken nesting boxes should be 12 inches deep by 12 inches wide by 12 inches tall. There should be a lip at least 2 inches tall on the front edge to keep the eggs and bedding material from falling out of the nesting box. Forums about raising chickens will have examples of different chicken nesting boxes.

Building a Unique, Adorable Chicken Coop

Even before you purchase your baby chicks, you should have a chicken coop ready for them to move into once they have their feathers.

Although it?s easy to find chicken coops for sale, it?s just as easy to find building plans for chicken coops for free on the Internet. Building a chicken coop is typically far less expensive than buying one, and you can get creative and build a unique, adorable chicken coop that fits your home and garden style.

Various cities around the country offer chicken coop tours where, before building a chicken coop, you can visit other unique chicken coops around the city that might spark ideas. Each year, Seattle Tilth organizes a tour of cute chicken coops in neighborhoods around the city.

There are a few important considerations when building a chicken coop. First, check your city?s urban agriculture ordinances. There may be height restrictions or your chicken coop may need to be a minimum distance from property lines.

When building a chicken coop, you also need to have enough space for the number of chickens you are raising. In the hen house, the small, enclosed area where the chickens will sleep at night, each chicken should have at least 2 square feet of space. In the run, the outdoor space the hens will occupy, they should have at least 4 square feet each.

I have three chickens, and I built a hen house that measures 4 feet long by 2 feet wide and 4 feet tall. It is set 2 feet off of the ground and is built as part of the larger run. The run measures 4 feet wide by 8 feet long and 8 feet tall.

The nesting boxes are inside the hen house on the short wall. Access to the nesting boxes is a very important consideration when building a chicken coop. You will want an access door to the chicken nesting boxes on the outside of the chicken coop so you don?t have to go inside the coop each day to gather eggs.

Just like owning your own real estate, building your own chicken coop can be a lot of fun. Let your creativity run wild. Paint it a fun color, decorate it with salvaged shutters and windows, and give your ?girls? an adorable chicken coop that is uniquely theirs.

Have you seen some unique chicken coop ideas? Do you have any questions on raising chickens in the city or any other urban agriculture topic? Let us know.

Tagged as: agriculture, chicken, chickens, coop, eggs, farming, garden, gardening, homestead, landscaping, nesting, urban

Source: http://www.realestate.com/advice/chicken-real-estate-unique-chicken-coops-for-city-chickens-64513

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Utilize These Suggestions When Marketing Real-estate - Consumer ...

While you are a terrain proprietor, a substantial section of your own web worthy of may be tied up because property or home. As a result, if you make the choice to promote it, you need to look for the best selling cost you are able to probably acquire on your property or home. As long as you possess the generate along with the self-discipline to find out the fundamentals of offering property, you have to have no troubles getting a client for the home.

Freshen up the household prior to open the house for viewing by potential buyers. Clear your rugs, offer the walls a lick of color, of course, if required, receive a skilled cleaning up program to deeply nice and clean the entire property. Getting extra cash into fixing within the property is likely to make it be noticeable and certainly worthwhile in the long run.

Make certain your home?s rooftop is in top condition just before attempting to promote your house. A roofing which is wanting key maintenance may well be a major deal-breaker for buyers. In case you haven?t mended your rooftop ahead of your own home will go available on the market, it may be an incentive to provide possible buyers some financial allowance to alter for your simple fact.

Remember that real-estate sales and transactions can be very confusing and time-eating, and you will probably lessen your necessary measure of hard work by employing a real estate property solid. There are a lot of tools that help sellers control the sell, it usually results in much less revenue.

Basic investment opportunities, like refreshing paint, can aid you in marketing your property. Do a walk-by means of in the entire property trying to find something that is displeasing on the eyesight. You should also put apart little home appliances when you utilize them. Even though it?s practical, it can make your countertop place appear more compact.

Suppress appeal is actually a major aspect in whether or not buyers will quit to look at your property. Taking care of the plants allows customers see the outside the home better once they very first pull as much as it. It also helps to make the home seem handled and properly-held. A lot of consumers will let their very first impression of the property affect their final decision.

Most people have contact with the genuine estate entire world really hardly ever. This can be one reasons why so many individuals discover real estate a little overwhelming. In the event you don?t know what you will be doing, it could be a risk. The info within the short article higher than, will help you make the most dollars beyond marketing your own home.

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Source: http://blog.ilove3c.com/2012/08/24/utilize-these-suggestions-when-marketing-real-estate-4/

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AMSIA MOTORS, GLOBAL: Auto finance & Sales rising, by 2017 !

When it comes to providing auto financing, China is steps away from countries including Canada and America, but this is about to change.

The huge hike in China?s auto sales is no longer the subject of China?s newspaper headlines. Back in 2011 when CAAM (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) projected that the sales of passenger cars in the country will likely rise 11 percent to 16 million vehicles, while the sales of commercial vehicles will drop 3 percent to 3.9 million units, no one imagined that within one year, China would also diversify its market for vehicle loans.
So what exactly is happening in China?s auto financing industry? It has witnessed two recent major changes: one is a rise in demand for expensive vehicles, and the other is a rise in the number of local and foreign automobile manufacturers that are currently offering auto-financing, some of which include Volkswagen, BMW, and Nissan Motor Co.?

While the rise in demand/sales was expected, the high sale of these vehicles to China?s youth population was unexpected. China?s youth are willing to go-into-debt for the sake of owning an expensive vehicle before their late 20?s.
?Young Chinese are very comfortable with the idea of credit to buy big-ticket items,? said Shuan Rein, managing director of China Market Research in Shanghai.? It doesn?t make sense for them to have to work for 5 to 10 years to save up for it.?
Young Chinese adults are not the only ones that are willing to cash-out a lot of money to invest in expensive vehicles. Manufacturing companies including Volkswagen, BMW, and Nissan Motor CO., are also making huge investments.

?Volkswagen, the No.2 foreign manufacturer in China after GM, plans to invest 2 billion yuan to expand auto financing in China this year,? said Cai Xue, a VW spokesman in Beijing. The company also has plans to offer financing to customers seeking to upgrade their old models. Since its 56 percent increase in auto sales back in 2011, Volkswagen has seen so much more demand for its products.
BMW says its China loans portfolio has risen to more than 10 billion yuan, a six-fold increase over 2010. The company forecasts that a quarter of all auto purchases in China will be funded by loans in three years and that half will be financed by 2025.
Nissan Motor Co., the biggest Japanese automaker by sales in China, has also invested in auto financing; the company believes that credit used to purchase vehicles will definitely be the new trend in China. ?Currently, buyers of expensive cars seek financing while those who want more modest vehicles typically pay cash,? said Kimiyasu Nakamura, president of Nissan?s Joint venture.?

Auto financing companies provided about 200 billion yuan ($31 billion) of loans last year, according to a carmaker in China.

While these auto manufacturers expand their auto-financing, other manufacturers and or companies including Amsia Motors will benefit from more opportunities to market their products. As young adults gain more access to financing their vehicle purchases, certain products only marketed to a specific age group, can now be marketed to them. And these include the sales of electric cars.
?We think there will be more and more young people using our loan products when they buy cheaper cars,? Nakamura said last month at a Nissan event in the northern port city of Dalian, where the automaker is building a new plant.
However, no matter how popular auto financing becomes, not every young adult will be eligible for this form of credit. Credit scores will play a huge role in the decision process. Despite this factor, though, China?s banks continue to see increases in the number of overdue credit card balances associated with the purchases of vehicles.

Based on a recent report filed by the People?s Bank of China, Credit card balances overdue for more than six months rose 9.1 percent from the previous quarter to 12 billion yuan as of the end of March.
Clearly, China has benefited greatly from introducing auto financing into its economy. If the auto financing industry continues to expand at the current rate, the country may soon be three steps ahead of Canada and America; this, however, will all depend on how well China?s automotive companies can control the credit-worthiness of every buyer, and how well the country?s government can monitor the industry.?

(By Nour Saqqa)

Source: http://amsiamotorsglobal.blogspot.com/2012/07/auto-finance-sales-rising-by-2017.html

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Jobs at risk as Johnston Press announces further outsourcing

Regional publisher Johnston Press has announced plans to outsource a department which develops the group?s websites, putting around 30 staff at risk of redundancy.

The company announced proposals last week to outsource the work carried out by its technology solutions department, which is based in Peterborough, to IT services firm Endava.

An employee told HTFP that transfer to Endava was believed to be on offer but it was not yet known if this would be in London or Romania ? where the company has some of its delivery centres.

It comes after the publisher announced plans last month to outsource half of its advertising creation teams to India, with the loss of 60-70 UK jobs.

The technology department is responsible for the publisher?s digital presence, including the development and operational support?of the group?s websites, apps and content management system.

Simon Pownall, group technology solutions director at Johnston Press, made the announcement to staff last Wednesday, saying they would retain 13 staff members from the department.

His announcement said: ?Following a detailed review of the Technology Solutions department the company proposes to outsource the integration, development and operational support services for the group?s websites, apps, content management system and services from Johnston Press to Endava (Managed Services) Ltd.

?Endava is a London based IT Service company, specialising in consultancy, development services and technical support in relation to application software and website delivery.

?Endava have significant experience in delivering operational services and development projects for blue chip companies in both media and non-media markets.?

?The company will retain the services of 13 staff in Technology Solutions who are involved with commercial and associated systems, and the management of outsourcing relationships.

?We have commenced consultation today with the individuals affected and anticipate that this process will be complete by the middle of September 2012.?

Endava?s webside says it has offices in London and New York and delivery centers in Romania and Moldova.

Source: http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2012/news/jobs-at-risk-as-johnston-press-announces-further-outsourcing/

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Yemeni gunmen vacate Interior Ministry after protest

DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemeni tribesmen agreed on Monday to vacate the Interior Ministry after storming it the day before in a protest for jobs, an official said - an incident that highlighted the ongoing turmoil in a country where al Qaeda militancy has alarmed world powers.

In another indication of instability in the Arabian Peninsula country, an Italian embassy security officer was kidnapped on Sunday. The Yemeni government said the hunt for the abductors had begun.

The country is struggling to establish order following the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February after a year of Arab Spring protests against his rule.

An Interior Ministry source said it had persuaded the 100 tribesmen, seen as loyal to the former president Saleh, to vacate the Interior Ministry in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The tribesmen were demanding to be enlisted in the police force.

"The president formed a committee to negotiate," the source said, referring to the country's leader Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

"They were persuaded to end the occupation in return for a promise to respond to their demands."

The Italian security officer was kidnapped near his country's embassy in Sanaa. A spokesman for the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome said the man was a member of the country's Carabinieri military police.

In a phone call with his Italian counterpart, Giulio Terzi, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said the hunt for the abductors had begun, state news agency Saba said late on Sunday. It said nothing about identity of the kidnappers.

The abduction followed the kidnapping in March of the Saudi deputy consul in Yemen's port city of Aden, Abdallah al-Khalidi, by al Qaeda-linked militants. The kidnappers have demanded the release of women detainees held in Saudi prisons.

During the uprising that toppled Saleh, militants associated with al Qaeda strengthened their position in areas of south and east Yemen, placing further tests on the central government control in a country where tribalism and regionalism run strong.

Tribesmen often kidnap foreigners and bomb oil and gas pipelines as a way to press demands on authorities.

Also on Monday, Yemen delivered its first oil shipment from the Maarib pipeline to its Aden refinery after a nine-month halt because of tribal attacks that left Yemen relying on imports and Saudi fuel donations, a refinery official told Reuters.

Yemen's location next to leading oil exporter Saudi Arabia and astride key world shipping routes has heightened regional and Western concern over the country's security situation.

The disorder has alarmed the United States, a backer of Saleh who has sought to ensure that his successor makes fighting al Qaeda his priority. Yemen now ranks alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan for U.S. policymakers concerned with the spread of al Qaeda networks.

Yemen's army has taken back some towns from militants, who struck back with suicide bombings in Sanaa, while Washington has stepped up a campaign of assassinations using manless drones operated by the CIA.

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Andrew Hammond and Mirna Sleiman; Editing by Pravin Char and Alessandra Rizzo)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/yemeni-gunmen-vacate-interior-ministry-protest-135322043.html

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Insurance Company IMEs Are Not Independent | Legal Shield | Pre ...

A certain percentage of our cases at the Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya eventually end up going to trial. If you?ve been hurt in a car accident, part of the process you?ll probably go through as we prepare for trial is what?s called a Rule 35 exam, or more commonly an ?independent medical exam? (IME). This involves being examined by the at-fault insurance company?s doctor.

In almost every case I have ever seen, the report this paid-for doctor generates is anything but independent and almost never in your favor. In Colorado (and in many other states), the insurance company doctor can get away with statements and conclusions that are not only negative, but sometimes outright false. They can claim that the crash you were in could not possibly have caused your injuries. They can say yes, maybe you are injured, but your injuries came before the crash. I?ve even seen cases where a doctor says the client caused their own injuries after the crash.

Because these so-called ?independent? medical exams can be so skewed, biased or flat-out wrong, your car accident attorney Colorado often will have to spend money on another doctor to perform a truly independent exam. That way we can counter the halo effect ? the tendency of many people put doctors on a pedestal.

With a skilled deposition, our Denver personal injury lawyers often can quickly poke holes in an IME. How much money did the doctor make from that insurance company last year? In the last five years? From other insurance companies? And there are other legal areas where we can challenge an IME doctor?s findings. If a case goes to trial, an objective medical report from our doctor and our ability to point out the conflict of interest the insurance company doctor has can neutralize the jury?s doctor halo thinking.

If you?ve been in an accident, you need an attorney who will get you the money you deserve. Give me a call at (303) 758-4777, email me at DLS@dlslawfirm.com or visit our website at www.dlslawfirm.com for more information.

Let?s talk about your case. There?s no cost or obligation. We?ll help you get the money you and your family deserve for the injuries you?ve suffered. And remember: If we take your case, we don?t get paid unless you get paid.
Continue reading ?Insurance Company IMEs Are Not Independent?

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Source: http://safeguardfreedom.com/blog/?p=6994

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Concocting The Right Business Strategy: Organizational Value ...

A cornerstone of corporate strategy is knowing your organization?s true value proposition and using that knowledge to innovate the business model so that existing customers can be better served and share of markets can be extended. Developing effective strategy requires business leaders to examine their value statements and to learn how to utilize and navigate the Organizational Value Quadrant (OVQ)¹ model. The four quadrants of organizational value define distinct operating models that relate the company?s positioning relative to the markets served by the business. Knowing which quadrant your business lives in and understanding how to navigate within the OVQ form the backbone of every strategic plan. This article explains the organizational value quadrants, and what they mean to a business in terms of strategy and investment.

Value Proposition; how well do you know it and live it?

For any business, understanding the company?s value proposition is the first step in strategy formulation and must be addressed as a key input to the OVQ discussion.

A value proposition can be thought of a business or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should?buy a product or use a service. In essence, this statement should help the firm connect with a potential target market in a way that differentiates a particular?product or service as to how it will add more?value or solve a problem better than other similar offerings.

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The purest three elements of a value proposition are:

The connection: What is it that makes the product or service inspirational and innovative? The connection must compel the customer to want the product and say, ?I need this?.

The differentiation: What is it that makes the product or service indispensable? The differentiation should help eliminate the thought of substitutes in the mind of the buyer.

The substantiation: What facts can you state about the product or service to help create credibility and trust? The substantiation should help the potential buyer to believe in the product or service and take action.

Organizational Value Quadrants

Businesses operate on models designed for value creation that are in alignment with their stated value propositions for each class of products and services. While the value proposition helps communicate the marketing and sales message, the business model must deliver the value promised. That leads to the discussion of value quadrants.

Strategists should always be thinking in terms of value quadrants when considering their firm?s competitive positioning. Method Frameworks focuses on four primary quadrants to classify the business model a company is following. The quadrants are? shown in the graphic below:

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Each quadrant represents the focus of a company or business unit and can be thought of as the strategy and business model generally being followed. Below is a synopsis of each quadrant:

The Customer Intimacy & Synergy Quadrant

Companies operating in the Customer Intimacy & Synergy Quadrant focus on the customization and tailoring of products / services. Their missions are geared toward know their customers well, delivering what specific customers want and ?personalizing? the experience.

Customers of businesses in this quadrant have the expectation of a close relationship that is solution-based for their needs. In return, they are willing to accept a higher cost for the goods or services they are purchasing.

The Operational & Organizational Excellence Quadrant

Companies operating in the Operational & Organizational Excellence Quadrant focus operational efficiencies, supply-chain optimization, maintaining low overhead and accomplishing more with lean structures. Their missions are focused on creating predictability in delivering quality, low price, no-hassle purchase experiences and ease of use.

Customers of businesses in this quadrant have the expectation of low cost and best pricing. In return, they are willing to accept less in the areas of service and relationship intimacy.

The Customer Enrichment & Fulfillment Quadrant

Companies operating in the Customer Enrichment & Fulfillment Quadrant focus on helping their customers reaching and fulfilling their potential. Their mission themes relate to creating better lives for their customers and the opportunity for self-actualization.

Customers of businesses in this quadrant have the expectation of enjoying an experience and learning through exploration and discovery. In return, they are willing to accept a higher cost for the goods or services they are purchasing.

The Product / Service Superiority & Innovation Quadrant

Companies operating in the Product / Service Superiority & Innovation Quadrant focus on creating superior or unique ?One-of-a-Kind? value-add services or products. Their missions are geared towards innovation and creating the best products and services available in their class.

Customers of businesses in this quadrant have the expectation of receiving high quality and benefiting from innovation in the products or services being purchased. In return, they are willing to accept a higher cost for the goods or services they are purchasing.

Utilizing The Quadrants In Strategic Planning

Each quadrant groups companies relative to their value propositions and respective customer expectations. Most companies standardize on a business model and force a fit of that model to all their customers. Although it may seem illogical to combine a strategy of individual service (custom-tailored and expensive) with a model of operational excellence (where cost-minimization requires a high degree of process standardization), it can and has been done successfully. A business does not have to be entirely committed to an exclusive relationship with only one category and can use strategy to navigate and position themselves in different quadrants of the OVQ.

Sales organizations have developed impressive sophistication in analyzing their customers and segmenting them appropriately. Likewise, CFOs are highly tuned into profit analysis and many have developed the equivalent of ?heat maps? for profitability. Together, they have analyzed their sales and profit data and have developed a clear understanding of which customers are providing them with high sustained profitability. With this combined insight, customer segmentation can then be applied to strategically approach these profit areas with segment sub-strategies. Segment strategy can be applied to invest resources in securing and growing key customer relationships through integration of the company?s operations with those of the key customer?s in a tailored? and effective approach. When this approach is followed, the investments can result in lowering key customer?s cost while increasing the profits of the supplier business.

Customer integration within a value quadrant can be accomplished by tuning customer inventories, smoothing order patterns and even deploying substitute products in carefully-selected situations. The key is to partner with key customers and shift the focus of supply chain efficiency initiatives from optimization solely within the organization?s supply-chain ecosystem to an optimization of the joint vendor-customer supply chain domain. This shift creates enormous new efficiencies for both organizations and helps increase the cost of switching vendors for the customer in the future.

The example above illustrates how an organization can straddle both the operational excellence and the customer intimacy quadrants. With strategic positioning companies can begin to dominate in other quadrants through the creation of other differentiated serving models for important customer segments. Through careful strategic planning and follow-though in execution, a business can actually implement and sustain multiple parallel service models to operate successfully across quadrants.

Recap

Business leaders must begin with a clear and realistic understanding of their value proposition, the first step in strategy formulation that must be addressed as a key input to the Organizational Value Quadrant analysis. A value proposition can be thought of a business or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should?buy a product or use a service.

The purest three elements of a value proposition are the connection, the differentiation and the substantiation. While the value proposition helps communicate the marketing and sales message, the business model (represented by quadrants of the OVQ model) must deliver the value promised. Each quadrant represents the focus of a company or business unit and can be thought of as the strategy and business model generally being followed. The four primary quadrants to classify the business model a company are:

- Operational & Organizational Excellence

- Product / Service Superiority & Innovation

- Customer Enrichment & Fulfillment

- Customer Intimacy & Synergy

Most importantly, a business does not have to be entirely committed to an exclusive relationship with only one category and can use strategy to navigate and position themselves in different quadrants of the OVQ.

Suggested Reading:

-? Organizational Authenticity

-? Corporate Strategy: 5 Critical Alignments To Assess

-? Value: Create ? Capture ? Share

-? Corporate Strategy: Multinational Organizations

^{1 ? Organizational Value Quadrant based on the work of Edgar Papke}

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Source: http://blog.vistage.com/business-strategy-and-management/concocting-the-right-business-strategy-organizational-value-quadrants/

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